FC Seoul crushed the Busan IPark 3-1 in the first leg of the two-round playoff to stay in the K League 1, which was held at Busan Gudeok Stadium on December 6.

Seoul adopted their typical 3-5-2 formation, but the line-up was slightly changed from the match against Sangju. Yang Han-been wore the goalkeeper gloves, with Lee Woong-hee, Kim Won-gun, and Kim dong-woo forming a three-back defense. Ha Dae-sung and Go Yo-han stood in the center, with Jung Hyun-cheol backing them up from below, and Kim Han-gil and Yoon Jong-gyu stood on each wing back position.For the offense, Yoon Ju-tae and Cho Young-wook made two tops, aiming to found Busan’s net.

With no ground to back out, both teams showed a much careful approach to the game. In the eighth minute, Cho Young-wook collected the ball from Yun Ju-tae and fighting rough challenges from defenders to keep possession inside the penalty before sending Seoul’s first shot on target with his left foot. In the 15th minute, Kim Han-gil sent a pinpoint cross from the left for Yun Ju-tae to volley it, but the shot flew wide the goalposts. In the 16th minute, Yun Ju-tae collected another pass from Yun Ju-tae to unleash a turning shot with his left foot. However, Seoul allowed an opener to Romulo in the 22nd minute. Seeking to turn the tide, Seoul began to dominate the game from the 35th minute of the first half. In the 42nd minute, Busan’s Gwon Jin-young received a red card with accumulated warnings, leaving his team outnumbered. The first 45 minutes were soon over with a one-point lead for the hosts Busan.

In the 9th minute of the latter half, the visitors replaced Yun Ju-tae with Park Chu-young in a bid to find an equalizer. It was in the 13th minute that Cho Young-wook, who boasted great performance throughout the first half, finally opened the scoring for his team. Ha Dae-sung whipped in an exquisite early cross towards the center, and dashing in, Cho Young-wook used his left foot to send the ball rolling through the goalie’s legs. Continuing to dominate the game, Seoul turned the tables in the 33rd minute thanks to another scoring from Go Yo-han, who collected a cross from Kim Dong-woo from inside the box and found the net with a precise header that completely fooled the goalkeeper’s prediction. In the 36th minute, Seoul put in Evandro to beef up the offense. Seoul’s dominance continued, and in the 42nd minute, Park Chu-young lobbed a razor corner towards the center, and Jung Hyun-cheol found another header, positively sealing a victory for the visitors. In the 43rd minute, Seoul added stability to the game with substitution of Kim Won-sik. In the end, the game was wrapped up 3-1 in Seoul’s absolute favor.

The second leg of the playoff will take place on Sunday afternoon at Seoul World Cup Stadium. Fans must be expecting another victory from Seoul on their home turf.